No Covid checks for migrants, rural Jharkhand braces for worst
- | Monday | 3rd May, 2021
On Friday, The Sunday Express spent three hours from 3.30 pm at the Hatia station, one of the two in the state capital, and tracked the arrival of three trains, from Yeshwantpur (Bengaluru), Mumbai, and Surat, all migrant hubs with new Covid curbs in place.
As the first set of migrant workers returned to Ranchi on special trains from across the country, a hoarding with an image of Chief Minister Hemant Soren welcomed them: “Johar! Jharkhand sarkar aapka ghar aane par swagat karti hai (Welcome! Jharkhand government welcomes you upon your arrival at home).”
Then, with circles drawn up on the floor for social distancing, they were screened one by one and greeted with roses, food packets, and water bottles. All of them were taken to their districts on transport arranged by the state. Once home, they underwent Covid tests and mandatory 14-day quarantine in panchayat facilities.
No wonder that the Chief Minister confided during a meeting with representatives from various districts two days ago: “80 percent of the population reside in rural areas and I am worried about their safety as many people are returning.”
Outside the railway station, Mohammad Aftab, who was working as a tailor in Mumbai, waited for transport. There was no state-sponsored support, and drivers of the few auto rickshaws available were haggling for better fares.
Asked why tests were not being done, Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Chhavi Ranjan said: “Tests are being done. We are doing it on special trains as and when the Railways informs us.”
“Migrant laborers are scared, they secretly come to their villages. They need to be quarantined and tested. This time, the virus has reached villages,” Poonam Devi of Godda Zilla Parishad told the Chief Minister.
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